Chapter 211: Rebellion Day
Qiao Jiajin's expression turned ugly.
After a moment, he shot up from his seat and strode toward the classroom door.
"Fist," Qi Xia called out. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to save someone," Qiao Jiajin replied. "Kung Fu Girl fought alongside me. She's my comrade."
"You're one person. How can you take on the entire Heaven's Mouth?" Qi Xia asked.
"I..." Qiao Jiajin hesitated. "Conman, aren't you here with me? I'm not alone—there are two of us."
"Alright. Since you consider me your own, let me tell you a plan," Qi Xia said. "Doctor Zhao, Lin Qin, Han Yimo—I'll need your cooperation for this plan too."
Hearing this, everyone sat down seriously, their faces tense.
...
Qiao Jiajin slowly pushed open the hospital room door. Zhang Shan was no longer there; only Li Xiangling was reading a tattered wuxia novel.
"Brother Qiao?" Li Xiangling broke into a smile when she saw him. She closed the book, smoothed her hair, and sat up straight. "You're here?"
"Hey, Kung Fu Girl." Qiao Jiajin sat down beside her. "What are you reading?"
"A pretty lousy wuxia novel." Li Xiangling smiled sheepishly and handed him the book. "Have you read it?"
Qiao Jiajin glanced at the title and shook his head.
"What's it about?" he asked casually.
"Oh, it's so cheesy..." Li Xiangling chuckled. "A martial arts hero—handsome and skilled—always saving beauties in distress. Every woman who appears falls for him, and people keep asking him, 'Are you married yet?'"
"Haha." Qiao Jiajin laughed. He'd never read such a ridiculous novel.
"Are you married yet?" Li Xiangling said. "Brother Qiao, isn't that funny?"
"Yeah, pretty funny. And then?"
"Are you married yet?" she repeated.
"Am I... huh?" He looked up at her, only to see her cheeks flushed.
Qiao Jiajin jumped to his feet in surprise, completely flustered.
"What...? What's going on?" He stared at her helplessly. "Kung Fu Girl, did I misunderstand something?"
"Of-of course..." Li Xiangling smiled awkwardly, but there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes. "Brother Qiao, I'm just telling you the story! Where's your mind wandering?"
"Oh, right." Qiao Jiajin sat back down, relieved. "My bad. I misheard."
"Th-that's right..."
They sat in silence for a while. Li Xiangling turned to look out the window at the pitch-black night, then asked, "Brother Qiao, is there something you came to see me about?"
"Nothing." Qiao Jiajin shook his head. "Someone wants to kill you. I'm here to protect you."
"Oh, okay... wait—what?!" Li Xiangling didn't process it at first. "Someone wants to kill me?!"
"Shh, keep your voice down." Qiao Jiajin put a finger to his lips. "Kung Fu Girl, do you trust me?"
"Mm..." She nodded cautiously.
"Just rest easy. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen."
As he spoke, he lay down on another bed, looking completely relaxed.
In the distance, faint chirping of insects drifted in. The room was very quiet.
The fire had nearly died out. Neither of them bothered to relight it. They just lay still on opposite sides of the room.
Li Xiangling couldn't close her eyes at all.
She wasn't worried about someone coming to kill her. She was just curious—what kind of person was Qiao Jiajin?
Why did he have tattoos all over his back, yet she didn't find him off-putting?
They had only been through one game together, but this man was really strange. He had thrown her heart into complete disarray.
"Brother Qiao, are you asleep?" Li Xiangling whispered.
Qiao Jiajin didn't answer.
She reluctantly closed her eyes, feeling a bit too forward.
Time passed slowly. Throughout the teaching building, the campfires gradually went out. Listening to the rustling sounds outside the window, Li Xiangling started to grow drowsy.
This was her fourth day in the Land of the End, and it was the first time she felt at ease.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Xiangling felt an itch on her arm.
She groggily opened her eyes and saw a dark figure standing beside her, stroking her arm.
Still half-asleep, she knew that only she and Qiao Jiajin were in this room.
But something felt off. She had touched Qiao Jiajin's hand before—it was very warm. This hand, however, was ice-cold.
"Brother... Qiao?" she called softly.
The figure didn't speak. It just kept feeling along her arm, as if searching for something.
"Hey..." Feeling the increasingly cold hands, Li Xiangling grew scared. "Wh-who are you?"
Before the other person could answer, Li Xiangling saw another silhouette emerge from the darkness. It picked up a chair and hurled it straight at the window.
*CRASH!!*
A loud noise rang out—the glass shattered into pieces. The figure in front of Li Xiangling was clearly startled and turned to flee, but Qiao Jiajin was already waiting at the door.
The next second, several beams of light poured in through the window.
Someone was shining a flashlight into the room.
Li Xiangling finally saw the dark figure clearly.
It was Chu Tianqiu.
He was holding a dirty syringe.
"Tianqiu, what are you doing?" Qiao Jiajin asked with a smile. "Visiting a patient?"
The people holding the flashlights slowly approached.
Chu Tianqiu turned his head and immediately showed signs of unease.
Yun Yao, Zhang Shan, Qi Xia, Lin Qin, Zhao Haibo, Han Yimo... It seemed like none of them had been asleep. They had been waiting here specifically for him.
"You... you all..."
Before Chu Tianqiu could finish, Qiao Jiajin shouted toward the hallway, "Come quick! Something big is happening!"
In just a few seconds, all the classrooms stirred. People threw on clothes and poked their heads out.
By the time Chu Tianqiu came to his senses, he was almost completely surrounded by the people of Heaven's Mouth.
Qi Xia slowly walked up, looking at Chu Tianqiu with a meaningful gaze.
"What are you doing?" Qi Xia asked.
"I came to visit a patient," Chu Tianqiu replied without changing his expression.
"Oh? Leaving aside the fact that you're visiting a patient in the middle of the night... What's with the syringe?"
"This..." Chu Tianqiu glanced down at the syringe. "Just some antibiotics. To prevent wound infection."
"I suggest you think carefully before you speak." Qi Xia pulled a man in a white coat forward. "We have a doctor in our group."
Seeing this, Chu Tianqiu blinked slightly.
Qi Xia knew he had achieved his goal.
*Xu Liunian, the timing of this problem is just right. How are you going to solve it?*